#they are the power couple of ls

[sister-sp1d3r]

“yeah unheavenly creatures is good and one of my favorite albums ever! vaxis ii: a window of the waking mind is also really cool and up there! you should check them out!”

[throughout the vaxis arc thus far nos and nia’s love for each other [and later, love for their son as well] is so strong it has its own distinct leitmotif [🎵we all go up in flames, going out in style🎵].

the melody both begins and closes unheavenly creatures and opens a window of the waking mind as not only the first thing their son vaxis says but the first line overall. not only that, but it comes back in full power, a cinematic soundtrack in The Embers of Fire. their love has only gotten stronger through hardships, exploding with strings and , and hope and fierceness, opposed to the quiet, tender meekness of the solo piano in unheavenly creatures. add onto that the full symphonic celebration in the closing minute of Window of the Waking Mind, as well as the entire album as vaxis wakes to join his parents, who have fought tooth and nail for their son for years, in hopes that he would one day rise from his comatose state. finally, the three are truly a happy family.

we can also hear that each member of said family brings their own instruments to this melody; in unheavenly creatures, we hear one soft, haunting piano; the two are living separate lives, both plagued with the pain of loss and abandonment. in the beginning of vaxis ii, we hear keys and strings, as the two lovers have been reunited, and are ready to take on the world. however, at the end of vaxis ii, when their little boy rises to meet his parents, there are triumphant horns alongside everything else. three different sounds, three different reunions, each more powerful than the last.

this is a work of genius. love really does conquer all, btw.]

[wonder-worker]

"In total, Leonor governed Navarre as lieutenant, with some minor hiatuses, from 1455 to 1479, making her the effective ruler of the realm for nearly twenty five years. Out of her female predecessors, only Juana I served a longer period; however, Juana I was detached from the governance of the realm and physically distant from Navarre. Leonor however, remained in the kingdom throughout her lieutenancy, making her the female sovereign with the highest record of residency in Navarre.

One of the enabling factors for Leonor’s constant presence in the realm was the “Divide and Conquer” power-sharing mechanism that she employed with her husband, Gaston of Foix. Blanca and Juan had a similar division of duties, but unlike her parents’ often contrary objectives, all of Leonor and Gaston’s actions can be seen to be working toward their joint goals of obtaining the Navarrese crown and politically dominating the Pyrenean region. In order to achieve their ambitions, the couple were adept at working as a team even when physically seperated or carrying out divergent duties.

Politically, it appears that they took on different areas of negotiatiion. Gaston was the designated emissary to the French court, which was entirely appropriate as one of the French king’s leading magnates. One important example of his involvement in negotiations of this type include Gaston’s visit to the French court in the winter of 1461–62 to negotiate the marriage between their heir and the French princess, Magdalena, which ensured Louis XI’s backing for Leonor’s promotion to primogenita. Gaston also conducted negotiations on behalf of his father-in-law, Juan of Aragon, with the King of France, with a successful outcome in the case of the Treaty of Olite in April 1462, which was intimately connected to the marriage that Gaston was orchestrating for his son and Magdalena of France.

Even though Gaston normally took on the role of intermediary with the French crown, there are two letters issued by Leonor during her marriage in December 1466 as lieutenant of Navarre that show her involvement in French affairs. These letters were written during a period of extreme crisis, when Juan II’s difficulties in Catalonia were matched with Leonor’s continuing struggle with the Peralta clan in Navarre. In these letters, Leonor was playing on her familial connection to Louis XI, in hopes of his aid and backing, asking him to “commend this poor kingdom and the said princess to him [Louis XI] as one who is of his house.” Moreover, these letters show Leonor’s independent interaction in crucial diplomatic negotiations with France, both in receiving embassies directly from Louis and in sending her own personal ambassador, Fernando de Baquedano, with detailed instructions on how to proceed.

Gaston appears to have been more engaged with marital negotiations for their numerous offspring than Leonor. However, this may be due to the fact that the couple overwhelmingly chose French marriages for their children. Only three of Leonor’s children did not contract a French betrothal: Pierre who became a cardinal, a daughter who died young, and Leonor’s youngest son, Jacques (or Jaime), who married into the Navarrese nobility. Given the fact that Gaston was more intimately connected to the French court and the nobility of the Midi, it seems reasonable that he would take on the role of chief negotiator for these matches. All of the marital arrangements for their children were made in order for Gaston and Leonor to achieve their joint goals, the acquisition of the throne of Navarre and the consolidation of their power and influence in the Pyrenean region.

Another area where Gaston necessarily played a more central role was militarily. Robin Harris acknowledges Gaston’s successful military career and notes that after his useful military service to the French crown, “the comte was permitted by the [French] king in the last years of his life to employ his military resources in order to further his family’s interests in Navarre.” Gaston also performed many military services for his father-in-law; the agreement of 1455 that promoted Leonor and Gaston to the successors of the realm required Gaston to go to Navarre on Juan’s behalf and retake those areas that had fallen to the rebels “for the honor of the King of Navarre as well as for his own interests and those of the princess his wife."

However, there is some evidence for Leonor’s involvement in one military foray. In the winter of 1471, Leonor took part in a daring attempt to seize the capital, Pamplona, from her opponents, the Beaumonts. Leonor participated in an attempt to storm one of the city gates with a group of armed supporters. Moret notes that “this surprise was reckless; for it exposed the person of the princess to obvious risk and was somewhat rash.” Moreover, the element of surprise was ruined by the cries of her supporters shouting “ Viva la Princesa !” which alerted the Beaumont troops to the threat, and Leonor and her supporters were swiftly ejected from the city.

Like her mother, the noted peacemaker, Leonor was also involved in moves to reduce the civil discord in the realm. Zurita credited Leonor with “making a great effort to resolve the differences of the parties and subdue the kingdom into union and calm.” Leonor represented her father in negotiations for a truce with the supporters of the Principe de Viana on March 27, 1458, at Sang ü esa. Zurita notes, “The princess Lady Leonor was there at that time in Sangüesa and signed the treaty with the power of the king her father.” Leonor was instrumental in the forging of another truce that was contracted in Sangüesa, in January 1473, and she was also present at a conference with her father and her half-brother Ferdinand in Vitoria in 1476 “accompanied by the nobility of Navarre to renew the treatties . . . and attempt to arrive at a stable peace.

Although both spouses were named to the lieutenancy of Navarre, the documentary evidence clearly demonstrates that Leonor appears to have taken on the bulk of the administration of the realm. This was entirely appropriate as it was Leonor, not Gaston, who had the hereditary right to the crown. Moreover, it was logical for Leonor to remain in Navarre so that her husband could look after his own patrimonial holdings and continue to serve as a military commander for the King of France.

Leonor was an active lieutenant but she struggled to implement her rule fully across the kingdom, as many areas were dominated by the Beaumont faction who were opposed to her and her father Juan of Aragon. This meant that at times, she had no control or access to certain key cities in the realm, including the capital, as mentioned previously. Her grandfather’s impressive seat at Olite was the center of her sister’s court, but Leonor eventually regained her hold on the castle and used it as one of her primary residences between 1467 and 1475. Sangüesa remained an important base for Leonor, and she was also associated with Tudela on the southern edge of the kingdom.

Leonor’s difficulty in implementing her rule across the whole of the kingdom is illustrated by a prolonged struggle between the lieutenant and the town of Tafalla, which consistently refused to send representatives when she called together meetings of the Cortes. Tafalla was a center of Beaumont strength, which had supported her brother Carlos in his struggle with Juan of Aragon and was thus bitterly opposed to her appointment to the lieutenancy. Between 1465 and 1475 there is a series of missives from Leonor both summoning representatives from the town and then expressing disappointment when they failed to arrive. During this period, Leonor appears to have called a meeting of the Cortes at least six times, but the town consistently refused to send envoys to the assembly. There is a sense of increasing exasperation and anger in these documents at the repeated failure to participate in these important events. At one point, in late 1471, Leonor personally came to the town to give advance notice of her intent to call another Cortes the following summer, perhaps to circumvent any excuse that the town did not have sufficient time to send representatives, but Tafalla still did not participate in the assembly.

As her authority was contested, Leonor was keen to stress her agency and her position in the documents that she issued. However, at times she even struggled with the chancery; between 1472–73, Juan de Beaumont retained the seals of the kingdom and refused to let Leonor have access to them. In 1475, she granted a reduction in taxes to the important city of Estella acknowledging the reduced capacity of the city to pay after the population had shrunk from the effects of war and flooding. In this document she stressed her efforts to assist all of the urban centers of the realm, to help them recover from the years of civil conflict and devastation, “the other good towns of the said realm have been refurbished by our certain knowledge, special grace, our own change and royal authority.

Leonor’s address clause drew on all of her family and marital ties as a means of establishing her authority:

 “Lady Leonor, by the grace of God princess primogenita , heiress of Navarre, princess of Aragon and Sicily, Countess of Foix and Bigorre, Lady of Bearn, Lieutenant general for the most serene king, my most redoubtable lord and father in this his kingdom of Navarre.”

The signet that Leonor used for the majority of her lieutenancy as well as her sello secreto had heraldic devises that mirror her address clause, bearing the arms Navarre, her family dynasty of Evreux, her husband’s counties of Foix, Béarn, and Bigorre, and finally the Trast á mara connections to Aragon, Castile, and Léon.

To sum up, Gaston and Leonor’s ability to divide up roles and responsibilities demonstrates the couple’s effective partnership, using each partner in the most appropriate arena. Moreover, this division was entirely necessary as the couple’s widespread territorial holdings and the demands of balancing the complicated and difficult political situation both within Navarre and the Midi and between France, Castile, and Aragon meant that both partners needed to be fully engaged and active in order to achieve their mutual goals and further their dynastic interests.

Even though Leonor and Gaston generally employed this mode of “Divide and Conquer” that left Leonor primarily responsible for the administration of Navarre while Gaston oversaw his own sizable patrimony, the couple did work together as a unit whenever possible. Documentary evidence shows that Gaston came to stay with Leonor in Navarre for short periods, particularly during the autumn of 1469 and 1470. There is also some additional evidence to indicate an earlier reunion in 1464, which appears to indicate a desire on the part of the couple to be together. Gaston and his party were stuck in the mountain passes between Foix and Navarre on his way to visit Leonor. The princess issued a series of orders to dispatch men and pay for additional recruits and mules in the mountains in order to clear the passes and roads for Gaston, including one order for 300 men to be sent to help. Gaston’s death in 1472 took place on another journey to see his wife in Navarre; he died en route of natural causes in the Pyrenean town of Roncesvalles.

 Overall, Gaston and Leonor worked together with the mutual goal of obtaining the crown of Navarre, throwing the weight of Gaston’s power, wealth, connection, and military forces behind Leonor’s hereditary rights and were willing to fight off opposition from their own family in order to succeed. They worked in partnership, with each partner taking on the most appropriate role; Leonor was responsible for the governance of Navarre, and Gaston supported her militarily and financially. They both worked on diplomatic efforts to achieve their ambitions; Gaston used his position as a powerful French vassal and general to gain support while Leonor negotiated with her Iberian relatives to maintain their rights.

[...] Tragically perhaps, Leonor hardly had a chance to enjoy the position of queen regnant when it finally came her way. Leonor’s death, only a few weeks after her father’s in February 1479, meant that her rule as queen lasted less than a month. Leonor changed her address clause to reflect her altered position as “Queen of Navarre, Princess of Aragon and Sicily, Duchess of Nemours, of Gandia, of Montblanc and Peñafiel, Countess of Bigorre and Ribagorza and Lady of Balaguer.” Ram í rez Vaquero points out that most of these titles were disputed; several were titles that should have come to her as part of her paternal inheritance from her father but in reality would have gone to her half-brother Ferdinand de Aragon. In addition, the French titles that Leonor had held as Gaston’s wife had already been passed to her grandson. It appears that Leonor had enough time to mount a formal coronation, on January 28, 1479, at Tudela, firmly establishing herself as Queen of Navarre, even if only for a brief moment. Moret remarked that “out of all the kings and queens of Navarre she was the one who reigned the shortest, although she may have been the one who desired [the crown] most.”

-Elena Woodacre, "Leonor: Civil War and Sibling Strife", "The Queens Regnant of Navarre: Succession, Politics and Partnership, 1274-1512" (Queenship and Power)

[ashikarin]

Honkai’s Treatment of Fu Hua

What i’ve been seeing in the last couple of chapters - ever since the ending of Elysium Everlasting - has been bothering me, especially in terms of their treatment of Fu Hua, hence the title.

The thing that bothers me the most relating to that is how no one seems to react to anything anymore. When Mei inherits the will of the Flamechasers and returns from the destruction of the Elysian Realm, which included the descending of the Current Era Herrscher of Corruption, by the way, everyone just kind of… brushes it off. Kiana and Bronya don’t react, Theresa seems not to care, and Durandal just doesn’t give a fuck?

I know there’re “more important things” going on, but really? REALLY? Raiden Mei met the warriors at the forefront of the fight against Honkai of the Previous Era, she met PE-thought process Kevin, who is their current Big Enemy, and no one even asked her about it? Kiana and Bronya went “oh cool you spoke to the most powerful warriors of the PE and the Herrscher of Origin? okay anyways” and moved on!

Which leads me to their treatment of Fu Hua. Because no one, not even Mei, who knows about Fu Hua’s memory purge, thought to tell her about the Flamechasers. Even if she didn’t realise the ER was a thing, she knew the Flamechasers. She had relationships with them, and so she’d want to know. She’d have a bigger reaction. All of that buildup where Mei skirts around telling sim Hua about future her and then nothing comes out of it? Seriously?

And i’m not saying HYV should have done this specifically for a reaction, because that’s not good writing either, but it completely brushes off that part of her history like it never happened. She knows and remembers Kevin, Su and Aponia, so by that logic, she should remember everyone else. So why not let her know?

Even on the Moon Base, if they didn’t want it in the Main Story, Klein is on the base. Do you mean to tell me Fu Hua never even asked or wondered why Mobius’s assistant was there?

The thing that pisses me off the most is the fact that this seems to suggest the fact that Hua doesn't deserve to or get the right to know that some of her closest friends just disappeared from reality for the rest of time. As if they never existed.

This doesn’t just apply to the Flamechasers. No one tells her anything! They don’t tell her Finality is running a time loop, or that MEI had no faith in Project Ember. Not only does it make Hua take even more Ls it reduces her character to a pitiable mess who doesn’t and has never been treated well and has only ever been seen as a utility by everyone but Kiana. She doesn’t get anything! She was told a lie and suffered for thousands of years because of that lie, and now that she has the chance to know the truth, they blindside and lie to her again?

Her memory purge at this point is just a plot device to not have to wrap up any loose ends and to not give her any characterisation at all. Like you could take the entire Shattered Samsara arc out and nothing would change because the only thing that it served to do was teach Kiana Edge of Taixuan.

And on that note, WHERE IS GARUDA FU HUA HYV??? offscreen 3 minute Garuda reveal. Where is Garuda Hua battlesuit huh?

[smartwatermagic]

AITA for inviting my archenemy and his (ex?) girlfriend on a date the same time same place?

So some background info, I (17M) joined Ls (M 19 at the time) fight against his ultra neglectful father and extended family when I was 12. It was an easy decision considering they also neglect my mom (∞F) and I was tired of the disrespect she received and is still receiving. I just want to make her proud and get her some acknowledgement for all she did for them through centuries, you see. The fact that the summer camp they run made me and a lot of other kids sleep on the floor also helped.

Long story short, we lost horribly. L got killed at age 23, most of my friends died when two people from the summer camp exploded our main base ship and the neglectful parents™ killed my siblings (admittedly because of a wrong decision I made), twisted my mom's arm to stop fighting and kicked me out of the summer camp for life.

Now, this left me immensely angry at my archenemy, let's call him P (17M) as he was one of the people that blew up our ship, the leader of who we were fighting against, and as I suspect, responsible for Ls death so I swore vengeance to avenge the deaths of the people I loved.

Now the problem is, P had broken up with A (17F) as the amount of power he has scared both of them and he didn't want to hurt her. Apparently it happened at an unplanned trip to Ps uncle Hs (∞M) basement and my previous boss Ks (∞M) jail. I have no idea how they even ended up there. Despite my murder attempts P had been incredibly kind to me and denies that he killed L/K. I CANNOT put my undying hatred for this man into words but after a few unintentional date nights I think I have fallen in love with him.

Around this time A found me. One thing that I and everyone around me know is just how protective A and P are of eachother. One time my late friend E(17M) tried to stab P in his weakest point and A took a poisoned knife for him. P broke his nose in retaliation, I think if E hadn't escaped P would've killed him right there. Anyways, A is also very possessive and didn't take being broken up out of nowhere very well due to her abandonment issues. The thing is, she, like me, also looked up to L and we used to be friends when I was at the summer camp. After some mental warfare, a knife fight and some crying about L, one thing led to another and we ended up going on dates.

Neither A and P are aware I also meet up with the other but from what I've heard from them, they sound like they were a very dysfunctional and codependent couple. I feel like they're just using me to fill up their loneliness and as a person to vent up about their increasing resentment towards the neglectful parents™, almost like a pet passed between two exes.

I talked about this with Es ghost, who called me an idiot, and my mom and adopted dad (40+/dead,M) both pointed out I was as lonely as A and P.

So Aita for inviting both of them to the same date because I want to sort things out?

I created a side blog for this because of self consciousness, lmao, hi mutuals this is for you/hj

[quitealotofsodapop]

So I finally read the little post about all the Joke Meme for Chapter 3 Teaser and it made me wonder… Does Erlang ever get a win? Or will he ever get one?

Like to start off our man is going on a mission—ope, no he’s not he out cold with the frying pan to the back of the head. Oh but he’ll remember what happened and be mad—no he won’t, he thinks he’s the one person in Heaven’s history that partied harder than Sun “Casually Drank 50 bottles of Heavenly Wine and got his 12th of 27 immortalities while hammered” Wukong cuz of how he woke up.

But wait, the Harbinger of Chaos is gone, problem solver and hey, Wukong got back together with some theatre bitch he used to wax poetic about—Erlang takes one moment, one singular moment, and remembers that he thought said theatre bitch died??? Cannot fact check. Moves on with life.

Oh but suddenly the Harbringer is back???? They never defeated him????—Its in some Monkey Kid with Wukong’s powers and he just makes the (smart) decision to not personally go down there unless directly ordered by The Jade Emperor. And hey, there’s the Jade Emperor now and wait why is he locking himself in his throne room?

What’s that? Azure Lion and The Brotherhood are back and on a rampage to kill the Emperor? We’ll buckle up boys! Time to stop this overglorified pussycat and hey, uh, has Azure always looked that good? Like, Erlang thought he looked gold back in the day but, damn, he ages like a fine wine—but in a total bro way! Like, it’s not that he fantasized about Azure or anything in the past or present and wow did he always look good in the sunlight and battle? Wow…

All my rambling to say that from what I gather of Erlang Shen’s story trajectory is that he just unknowingly keeps taking L’s and I find it absolutely hilarious.

Erlang's whole vibe for the first couple of chapters is:

Wakes up covered in wine and dog slobber with the peach attendants yelling at him cus they think he partied Too Hard after a successful mission. Later the Jade Emperor congradulates him on a job well done, with SWK standing there smiling nervously with a broken egg shell thing? And in the corner Nezha's getting yelled at by General Li Jing for some reason??

Erlang's third eye is like "I dunno man. We must've been toasted last night." And Erlang just decides to play along with a stoic look on his face.

I love the idea of his Third Eye acting as a fact checker, but it doesnt give him the context or changelogs.

Erlang, thinking real hard: "Wait... isn't Wukong's mate dead?" *old 90s computer noises* "Nah he aint. Good for them."

And ofc Azure has been doing probation with Manjusri, since Wukong and the Celestial army had to crack down on Camel Ridge. So he and Erlang occassionally interact and spar and whoops, giant lion man hot ( •///•)

I think part of the hilarity comes from the fact that Erlang is destined to win his historical encounter with Sun Wukong no matter what. So in the au, he just keeps getting non-fatal Ls by just minding his own business.

He might just get a win however... if a certain nephew plays nice with that axe of his.

[edalynn]

Why h/ls are so obsessed with needing it to be canon is because canonicity is their only foot to stand on. It’s like how people’s main argument for Starco was that it was the inevitable endgame when Star and Marco’s characters and interactions started going downhill (and I say that as someone who likes Starco, but tends to ignore a good chunk of Star vs seasons 3 and 4). Unlike Lumity and Raeda, which had moments that came across as romantically charged even before the relationships were confirmed romantic, most, if not all, of Hunter and Willow’s interactions don’t come across as inherently romantic unless you’re either actively shipping it or regularly interact with people who are.

As we know, some people on the crew have talked about liking the ship, but that by itself only serves to make some slight ship tease look semi intentional, and ship tease can mean anything from “setting a ship up to be canon later” to “throwing the ship’s fans a bone” to “intentionally trolling the fandom.” Only Dana, and Dana specifically, confirming that yes, the relationship between them was meant to be romantic, would actually make the scenes Hunter and Willow share actually seem inherently romantic in hindsight. And I think the fact that she more or less refuses to specify is a sign that no, they weren’t meant to be a couple, but she doesn’t want to explicitly deny it because she doesn’t want to disappoint its fans/discourage fans from having their fun. At least, that’s my two cents.

Yeah, you very cohesively put down into words how I feel about it as well as of late, but haven't had the brain power to type out recently. It's literally the only thing their ship has- it has no definite romantic interactions, no verbal confirmation, no kiss, nothing interaction wise that either of them haven't had with another friend already. They have no chemistry, barely have any interactions at all, and in my honest opinion, the majority of their interactions throughout the whole series lean more negative or cynical aside from like. The second to last episode of the whole series. So yeah, getting Dana to confirm the ship is "canon" would be literally all they have.

[imthepunchlord]

The whole system for the Miraculous is wonky as hell and much of the writing feels like they're still on that whole Good/Bad Luck concept from the show's planning stage. LB's power is literally Lucky Charm, and the symbolism of Ladybugs are good luck symbols not creation symbols. Same with the Black Cat symbolism (though the Miraculous borrow from Chinese culture and Black Cats are good luck symbols in China) I'd be more than willing to wager that the Peacock and Butterfly were concepted out before the change and no one went "Hey shouldn't we change the peacock"

Originally there was no Peacock. They were planning to do Bagua instead of Wu Xing. So a couple of miraculous from concepts were able to make it in.

But yeah, I have a growing list of what I noticed to be concepts that got changed, but weren't fully implemented to match those changes, so it's like they're still working off those old concepts despite the changes and it's not working as well, at least, how they're going about things.

As you mentioned, yeah, there's still the Good-Bad Luck theme going on (which both animals are European exclusive in terms of lucky view, an unlucky animal in Chinese should've been an Owl or Wolf).

Marinette's Luck and Tikki's treatment of her.

Now older concept Marinette was a lot more problematic. She was invasive of Felix's company and would try to force kisses on him. She also used her good luck powers selfishly, which brought bad luck as consequences. So being more pushy with her interest and being more selfish, it warrants Tikki to be criticizing and more questioning of Marinette and her choices.

Marinette now though is very selfless and considerate of others, and hardly ever abuses her power or use it selfishly. Despite the changes to her character, she still suffers a lot of bad luck (much of it played for comedy which sometimes goes too far), and Tikki is very criticizing/nitpicky of Marinette's choices and actions.

2. Chat still pursuing LB despite the clear no

Felix still pursued LB despite the clear no because he was cursed with bad luck. His actions aren't ok, but you get his reasoning on why he still tries.

Adrien though is curse free, still pursues LB despite the clear no and its because he really wants to be with her and is trying to wear her down and is dismissing her answer and feelings. That's not good.

3. Hawk Moth and His Son

Felix actually was not HM's son. Between that and him not having a desire to be a hero, it made sense why Felix wouldn't actively look for HM. He doesn't have that close connection nor did he have that drive.

Adrien is HM's son, and he has that close connection and could get that plot moving. And yet 5 seasons now, Adrien is none the wiser. It's a weird placement where they know he is HM's son, but they're also acting like Chat still isn't his son so has no reason to look into HM and discover things and get this plot moving.

4. The Slow Slow Slow Slow Slow Slow Slow Civilian Side Burn

When it was Felix and Marinette, he couldn't stand her (understandably) so he avoided her while she makes all the effort to try and get closer with him. It's understandable why the civilian side of things would be slow going.

Now, Adrien is friendlier and does like Marinette, and she still makes a lot of effort to confess to him and get closer with him. But it fails or goes nowhere, which just sets up this impression that she is far under his radar. And introducing Kagami didn't help cause you could pass off him being too blind/set on LB, but Kagami shows that he can notice other girls, so Marinette just isn't a romantic option. I do hear they finally reversed the LS in s5 but it feels way too late.

5. Marinette and her Parents

Earliest concept of Marinette actually had her coming home finding her father dead. And I didn't see much else of her having parents or them talked about. And given that Marinette is written to be independent, self-reliant, hardly turns to adults for help and advise, and seems to turn to Tikki as a mentor; to me it seems that Marinette's parents were just never meant to be in the picture or factored in. Mindful, I think Marinette was originally meant to be college age. If she and Chat Noir were always meant to be a romantic pair, well, there is no way this Chat is a young teenager.

Either way, she now officially has parents, but they are hardly in her life, she never really turns to them for help and advise like a 13 yo should, and she's still incredibly independent. Mostly, she turns to Tikki for help and advise. At It's almost like her parents aren't there.

This way of writing how uninvolved and absent her parents are, it could be a left of to them possibly being dead, or it could be a left over from the earliest thought that Marinette was going to be older and not need them around as much. They made a change, but it's not fully implemented, especially with Marinette confirmed to be 13 at the start of the show. I don't know how much independence 13 yos in France get, but I'd expect they still rely on their parents quite a bit.

So, this is my list of things I noticed that were changed concepts, but they didn't fully change everything to really make it work, and it feels like they're still working off those old concepts despite making changes. Or they're just trying to have their cake and eat it to. They do that a lot.

[feyredarlinq]

sjm live (thoughts)

she LOVES loves loves loves rhys (same bestie)

more TOG? 

elain the quiet dreamer 🤍 a different kind of strength 🤍 

tamlin is ABUSIVE (can’t believe that even needs to be said)

her stories are all about female empowerment etc and she doesn’t give a shit about the men and her editor literally had to tell her to give cassian something to do

which means that azriel was only there for that and that also leads us to:

no azriel’s book 😌 

gwyn is most likely a LS (A+ theorizing ✨) and she was only     mentioned as that or with emerie as nesta’s found family

we knew her lil two sec appearance at the end of azriel’s chapter was about her powers and she was made to be a side character and nothing more but it still feels nice to be proven right by the author herself 

cc3 is next !!! we’ll see elain “in the next-“ “in some form” “soon” miss sarah 👀 IMO the next book is cc3 and that’s when we’ll see her (or I’m over analyzing it and by the next ~book~ she meant aco6 and in some form means her pov is ½ cause it’s one couple x book)

the questions were not randomly selected lololol that’s now how these things work they 100% had to vet them first so if this is what we got it was intentional some people need to get over it 

it lowkey was a scam though I don’t think it was fair to have people pay only to have them listen to things she already said in other lives or interviews 

the fact that she didn’t answer the azriel bit in That elriel question lmfao #freesarah from BB

overall it was good for us the only thing that slightly pissed me off is that we still have to deal with ~them~ until cc3 and I got the feeling that acotar is definitely not her priority rn which is not necessarily bad for me cause I love cc but I don’t think it’s fair for those who like acotar to have them wait like this with no new updates whatsoever 

elain’s elriel book in 2024/25? idc cause we’re definitely getting crumbs in cc3 but at the same time I’m getting tired of waiting #freeme from the faeries pls

basically I just wish that BB allowed sarah to be less secretive and that we get cc3 ASAP

oh and I’m definitely going to read Sarah’s Maclean’s books 😌🌸

[thevisoryposts]

Static isn’t close to street level. The answer is much much higher.

You know, it’s always bugged me that there’s a good chunk of people that automatically assume that Static on the weaker end of the power scope. And I could never really figure out why. He’s never taken any real major Ls; he’s beaten people even I have blinked my eyes at, and wondered just how he pulled it off. You’d think that people would overestimate him if anything. You see it with Batman and Spider-Man all the time. So why not the guy who controls freaking Electromagnetism? Well there’s a couple of things.  I think the biggest one that I’ve come to discern is portrayal. I talked about in a prior post about how Young Justice Static is one of the shittier versions of Static shown in media thus far. And in that post it I focused heavily on his personality. But I did make sure to mention that his powers are very shoddily done. And it’s true. He’s the most sorry excuse for Static I’ve ever seen - he does the barest mimnimum of moving metal around. And in the third season (The one where he’s supposed to be more experienced) he tosses little ball bearings that he doesn’t even control. Just fires them like a little weakass railgun. So naturally anyone watching Virgil for the first time isn’t going to realize this dude can often channel lightning so potent he can split a car in half on a whim. Or that he has electromagnetic barriers that rival those of a Green Lantern’s. OR that he can levitate people like a telekinetic. And cling them to walls like they’ve been superglued to the surface. Now I hear you thinking: “Oh, these are cool aspects of his powers for sure. But he had these in his own show. Naturally he’d be the stongest in his own show and you’d see things more advanced than what he normally does.” ...What if I told you animated Static is a weak version of Static too? Matter of fact >to date<  he is the second to last ‘weakest.’  The DCAU was no stranger to nerfing it’s characters. Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash - they’re all considerably weaker than their comic counterparts. Static wasn’t exempt to this. He had more strength limits on what he could and couldn’t lift (In the first and second season mostly.) He ran out of ‘juice’ often, something that comic Static never had happen. And then of course there’s the infamous ‘the water shorted me out!’ weakness. A weakness I’m pretty sure is exclusive to DCAU Static and not part of his other animated counterpart. And after telling you this, I’m still able to safely say that DCAU Static could take YJ Static out back and whup his ass like his daddy - no sweat.  What I’m getting at is that DCAU Static is already a toned down version of Virgil. Even with weaknesses tacked on to keep him too OP and keep the audience concerned for his wellbeing in a show - he’s still too much for his YJ counterpart. A counterpart that is in a show with other heroes that either par their own DCAU selves...or even show elements of being beyond them.  Yeah. I can’t much blame people for getting the idea Static’s much weaker than he is. We’re not going to throw any shade at Static Shock because it does an AMAZING portrayal of Virgil and I absolutely understand why they nerfed him in-universe. It’s effectively just a side-effect for ANYONE residing in it. But Young Justice? It’s contribution to Static is not just needless...it’s extreme. Imagine if someone showed Green Lantern as just being able to fly and shoot lasers from their rings. Nothing else. That is the powerset he/she’s got.  One would imagine you might be missing the point of Green Lantern and you’ve declawed them for absolutely no reason. Speaking of missing the point, that’s kind of the last aspect I want to talk about. When I often tell people what Static’s powers are, I expressly say “Electromagnetism.” I don’t say ‘He controls eletricity’ or ‘He’s a lightning guy’. Even though these things are true.  There’s a reason for that. Electricty generation and manipulation, while pretty cool powers in their own right - are kind of limited. They’re usually stuck in the realm of just shooting lightning, absorbing lightning, flying via lightning and maybe...MAYBE...turning your body into electricity so you can zap around at fast speeds and go through wires, sockets, technology and the like. (And yes. They do INFLUENCE electromagnetism from time to time. But they don’t directly control eletromagnetism itself.) Electromagnetism however is within the realm of almost every physical phenemona known to man. It’s one of the the four fundemental forces of nature. You would be hard pressed to find something in the world that’s Virgil’s powers could not affect in some way - yes. That even goes for what his supposed weakness is - insulators. Because insulators are just a means to trap charge and keep it from conducting. A la - a little lightning catcher so that Lil’ Lightning doesn’t go into you. And at this point you’re probably realizing (Or have already realized, I’m not gonna assume everyone reading this is ignorant) that all an insulator does really is keep an eletrokinetic from tasing you.  And Virgil can do SO much more than just attack a person with a zap, they might actually prefer he just do that, than get creative.  People largely miss the science behind Virgil’s powers. Which is wild considering that is a big element of Virgil’s character himself. He’s often very powerful and dangerous to his opponents just because he’s fully aware of what electromagnetism can do on the battlefield. And it’s a big part of why he’s taken out foes at such a young age that he likely shouldn’t have been able to fuck with otherwise. This leads me to a statement that might piss some people off, but instead of throwing a bunch of physics jargon at you? It’ll get the point across.  If Virgil had twenty years experience, Magneto would be afraid of him.  I’m not joking. Magneto has an intimdating presence and has done some stupidly OP things, but people drop out the fact that Magento has been using his powers for some 60+ years and often holds little care for humans. So he’ll  easily ‘flex on them’ so that they know who’s superior. Virgil however is often a 14-15 year old kid that’s only been in the hero game for a hot second. Often does not cut loose because he does care about humans and civilians. And even still...he’s done things that could make Magneto sweat. In short, anything Magento has ever done. Any terrifying, extreme super display of power he has ever provided - Static is capable of that. In terms of raw power - Static may need age on him in some cases to execute. But the means to do exactly whatever Magento has ever done? It’s there. In fact, Static has addtional powers that Magneto has never shown. Healing Factor? Psionic Immunity? Magneto doesn’t have this wild shit. And it’s not strange. Magneto controls magnetic fields. A lot of his applications to do the crazier things are largely workarounds with his powers.  For Static it’s just natural.  And not to put a finer point on it, but even Static’s Artist, Nikolas Draper Ivey confirmed all this on Twitter:  

So there you go. Now you know just how badly the perception of Static’s powers have come across to the masses. Thankfully because of things like the Milestone reboot, people are finally starting to realize that Static is NOWHERE close to as weak as they believed him to be. And that makes me happy. But I do like to sit down and talk about these things because I rather if some idiot takes the reins of Static or uses him badly in a show? People will call them the fuck out on it instead of believing that their shitty take of a character - is the actual character. Remember. Static is not just the most iconic part of the Milestone Trinity. He’s intergral to it. He deserves the respect put on his name, because he’s been one of the greats for a long LONG time.  Lets keep that going. 

[outrunningthedark]

Their timing to finally decide on separating them is not my only problem. It's the act of separating them that gives me chagrin the most. It's probably me not knowing much shows, but we haven't had any good same-sex slow burn in a while and with how much of it lines up pretty well instead of adapting their story so that it can happen they... decided to make their spinoff a fanfic of this show (not just Buddie, but everything else about LS is OG fanfic). I remember someone said "They wouldn't waste a huge amount of production cost dedicated to Buck and Eddie's scenes to make them not canon in the end" but guess what? I guess those production costs are wasted after all. Not so much waste as they could lure a viewerbase out of it given their intentions are in a confusing scale of "we know what we're doing" and "very unintended," but you get the gist.

"There are other shows" but how many will have a good slowburn for same-sex couples? I understand it's more of me mourning the idea of a storyline, but it's still disheartening all the same. Sorry for being very bitter on your ask, but I don't really know where else to go.

I agree with you about Buddie not being treated like a legit slow burn, many of us do (separation is not part of the formula) and I actually put out this post that's making the rounds in my notifs which summarizes how we looked like we were starting the process in s3 and then there was backtracking to be done. I don't recall the production comment you mentioned (Maybe I blocked it out. I'm sure it came from one of the "You don't understand long form storytelling" folks.) but that sure does feel like a silly thing to say! For one, there are scenes the show spends enough time (and money) on that never see the light of day - the girl who reappeared in 5x10 after her entire arc was cut from Ghost Stories, Lucy's scenes from 5B, for ex. - and two, they're not "wasting" anything if they interpret Buddie scenes one way and allow us to think differently. How would depicting two men with a close relationship that rejects toxic masculinity be a "waste" of production? 🤔 Sounds like someone wanted to convince themselves as much as everyone else. Same-sex/queer slow burns (to reiterate: not what the show has done) are an anomaly, and I think part of it could be that The Powers That Be want their audience to know they've found one piece of media where "baiting" does not apply. (I think about the NCIS franchise and how the Hawai'i installment wrote Lucy & Kate as love interests in the pilot.) People (understandably) are just. Tired. Tired of being strung along, tired of waiting for confirmation, tired of wondering if the gays will ever get to be happy. They *welcome* pre or quickly established relationships because they *know* they'll have something to look forward to with every episode.

[terramythos]

System Collapse by Martha Wells Reading Notes

Full Review Here!

-ohhh fuck new murderbot explodes

Chapter 1

-I am glad to continue the "slightly out of order even in microcosm" style

-ok WHAT is it redacting. It sounds embarrassing.

-"I could have said a one liner but the ag bot scientifically couldn't understand me if I did so why bother" omg

-Another Sec Unit with somewhat heavy focus, which potentially tried to kill Murderbot, I'm sure this will be irrelevant and have no implications

-multiple uses of 'it/us'.

-God I love ART

-well I think one fun idea we could explore is there being rogue Sec Units completely separate from Murderbot (/Three, who Murderbot freed). It is theoretically possible others could have figured out what Murderbot did, or even other methods it didn't.

Chapter 2

-"fuck proprietary software" rant. So real bestie

-the slavery theme continues. Like obviously it's major to Murderbot as a character, but here the surviving colonists are framed as "salvage" to a corporation. So. Yeah looking forward to more of that.

-YEAH MAYBE ART'S PROTECTIVENESS BECOMING HAIR TRIGGER VIOLENT RESPONSES lS A BIT CONCERNING.

-it's giving Rimworld vibes

-yaaaay more neopronouns wooooo

Chapter 3

-ARGUCUSSION. Might steal that

-murderbot I'm beginning to seriously consider that the threat assessment module is just anxiety

-WHAT DO YOU MEAN REDACTED. HELLO?

-murderbot adding increasingly catastrophic hypothetical contingencies to worry about is far too relatable

-ART quantum as fuck

-what does redacted meeeeaaaan why does it keep happening what is going on that murderbot doesn't want the reader to knowwww

-ok there being such a heavy focus on ART and how unusual it is and how much it is capable of doing and being at once… in conjunction with the title… is a little. Hm!

-Ratthi my friend Ratthi

-"HUMANS CAN ALSO HAVE AUTISM ITS NOT JUST ME" ok go off mb

-was redacted a nervous breakdown or something?

-Ratthi getting defensive about Murderbot 💖

-"at least nobody had noticed" lists 3 of the 4 people as probably having noticed

Chapter 4

-"I don't know how to respond when humans say [be safe]. It was always my job to get hurt". :(

-ok why would a pre-CR ruin be actively powered. That's a little. Odd.

-i know this is just a reminder expository dump but I do still enjoy the concept of alien material just causing weird shit to happen to human biology and technology sometimes.

-MB precisely citing a historical reference is. Something. Did it suddenly gain an interest in this

redacted

-Tarik going from "random extra red shirt coded character" to "oh wait you have a backstory and thematic character foil shit going huh". 👌 the good shit

Chapter 5

-its been spelled "hanger" not "hangar" a couple times which feels like an error

-'murderbot, why are you like this' I mean

-oddly specific media similarity queries is oddly relatable

-murderbot low self confidence is :(

-framing its friends helping it in a difficult time as covering for its mistakes sure is a way to look at things

-ok so I guess murderbot is having like. Ptsd related stress nightmares? Hence the redacted ("inaccurate") memory? Murderbot doesn't dream like a human as far as we know so it wouldn't be a shock that everyone is confused about it.

-I guess there could be another explanation but

-yeah the story describes it as a "flashback" which is a ptsd thing. But I guess then I'm surprised murderbot hasn't had something similar happen before considering some of the things that have happened in the series. I guess it isn't nearly predictable in humans irl either, but still.

-poor murderbot

-ok so when it said "I froze" it meant that literally in like a computer sense

-"I guess machine intelligences of that era were too polite to say 'that sounds fake but okay'" LMAO

-the pre CR system seems interesting and I like the framing of their convo in an extremely basic programming language (if that's the right term for it)

-telling that it doesn't have a word for 'client'

-and how did BE get there so fast…

Chapter 6

-not Tarik sitting like me

-GOD why did "explaining the existential horror of the governor module in LanguageBasic" make me laugh so hard

-so I'm pretty sure the implication is one of the main humans sold them out to BE, which is how they knew where to look for the separatists. Though since ART speculates they got there early, I guess the main colonists could have as well, but that doesn't explain the BE SecUnit trying to (presumably) hurt Murderbot.

-on that subject, that SecUnit might have (1) immediately identified Murderbot as an altered SecUnit and (2) that's the reason it attacked the ag-bot how it did, either to test the theory or because it knew MB would be okay. But that also doesn't explain how it would have avoided the automated report to its governor module.

-AdaCol2 being horrified about a governor module even existing:(

-OMG AdaCol2 having its own extensive media storage. That's so cute omg.

-so to this point in the series MB hasn't been characterized as "part human" despite being partially made of human material. It's always considered itself more of a bot with mostly inconvenient human neural tissue. And now that human neural tissue is causing worse problems than it has before (PTSD/flashbacks).

-SO when ART here says "the part of you that is human" that's significant. It makes me wonder if MB is going to be reframed as "part human" in a way the series has avoided so far… or if ART is genuinely just wrong about that.

-but MB's resistance to even being treated as a human indicates SOMETHING there… compared to its acceptance of being repaired and healed while framed as a bot-- and its fixation with being 'broken' like a machine when that's not really the problem.

-just. Very interesting to think about.

-MB did mention just before this scene that human neural tissue is essential to understanding visual media like TV shows. And we know how important that is to MB. So I also wonder if that is a factor in characterizing MB as "part human" (maybe even retroactively).

-OK the little cut in with Mensah saying "you just don't want to talk about [whats wrong with you]" supports the entirety of the above. So.

-& leaning heavily into the theming outside that… and Considering the title…

-oh Ratthi & Tarik having Something Going On recontextualizes some earlier scenes

Chapter 7

-ok this is the second hint that someone is leaking info to BE. And like the OBVIOUS candidate would be Tarik. But I kind of hope it isn't, if thats where we're going.

-'would it have been kinder to kill you, before you disabled your governor module?' 'yes.' What a fucking gut punch. Jesus. The whole exchange.

-Murderbot is not okay :(((

-inspiring change through the power of media! Yaaaaay

-I like the implication that MB used Sanctuary Moon to kinda.. rewire its brain after the governor module. To heal, I guess. Like that's pretty obvious if you think about it, but I like seeing it acknowledged directly.

-what a cool way to potentially solve the main conflict. It's so character appropriate. I really like this

Chapter 8

-"die trying. It's not the worst thing that could happen." AAAAAAAAA

-ratthi my friend ratthi

-i like the bit about media analysis and applying that to your own craft. Relatable

-last minute group project energy

Chapter 9

-'the documentary explained the reality of the situation. I think that's the opposite of a sales pitch.' LMAO

-he shot at Leonide? So… inner BE politics?

-there is something grimly funny to me about the shortening to "BE" for Barish Estranza for purely personal reasons 1 person maybe reading this will also understand.

-i think it's interesting that we mostly use terms like "forcible indenture" in place of just "slavery". It gets called slave labor, yes, but the corporate-whitewashing term being juxtaposed with the horrible reality of it is quite striking.

-more about ART being quantum. For lack of a better word as the narration hasn't used that term yet. But idk how else one would describe that

-i have a dreadful feeling Iris might get killed off but that would be one hell of a thing to drop this close to the end. She just gets a lot of characterization this book and there's a heavy emphasis on her importance to ART. and we already saw what ART was capable of just thinking MB got hurt or killed last book.

-sees 'Hostile!SecUnit' explicitly written in the text looks at Martha Wells I Know What You Are

-i know they're friends and that's like a predictable thing but I like how MB and ART have gradually changed to be more like each other

-i think AdaCol2 is just out of commission despite MB assuming it betrayed them. But ART had that comment about it being more sophisticated than it let on… but I don't think it would betray them based on the characterization so far, like its horror at the mere concept of a governor module and uploading the documentary for them.

-did we know SecUnit hands are metal

-Tarik being badass as a background detail

- YAY AdaCol2 back

-the idea of a human augmented to be the HubSystem is a little horrifying. And introduced in media res so like "don't think about it"

-ok a reasonable justification for not freeing the two SecUnits. Like it can't happen all the time. But it's still upsetting knowing what it's like to be one.

-BUT giving them the means to do so later like MB did with Three in Network Effect is nice. If ill advised as it realizes later lmao

Chapter 10

-if Leonide doesn't piece together that MB is rogue ill be shocked

-THE FREED SECUNIT HELPING THEM SCREAM CRYING

-ART drone is like. Drunk

-i kinda like the framing of the humans taking over to help SecUnit and ART

Chapter 11

-MB was worried about Ratthi :(

-'booped by the pathfinder' god why is that funny

Chapter 12 -oh no is Holism like. Another ART

-yeah, confirmed. Huh. So there's more than one semi omniscient space ship hanging around. It's not just Peri. I didn't even suspect that.

-yeah honey you DO need therapy.

The end!

Ok so. Thoughts. We kind of end in a similar place as Network Effect, with Murderbot deciding to leave the Preservation team to go with ART. This story feels like a character

development add on and I'm not sure if it was originally planned when Network Effect was written.

That's not really a criticism because we do learn interesting things. There's a heavier lean into ART and its functional existence. MB has a realistic response to the traumatic events of Network Effect and we have to deal with the fallout of it. Which I think is important instead of jumping to the next arc right away. We also get heavy characterization of 2 newer characters, Iris and Tarik. Tarik especially gets a lot of development. I legit can't remember if he was in Network Effect. But he's a human character foil to MB which I think is a good addition to the story. We have had multiple bot foils for MB so having a human one is good (Gurathin doesn't really count imo) Since as this book emphasizes, MB is kind of both.

My speculation on what we go to next? This book had a heavier emphasis on MB being partially human. That's always been true but not something MB likes to think about or identify with. And the trauma response to Network Effect is framed as a human part of MB. So how do we explore that in the future? I think back to how MB talking to Bharadwaj was integrated into Network Effect and how that explored its trauma and past. Now we have trauma and the present, and the implication that MB will get actual therapy, so will it be similar?

We can obviously examine a lot about the University. We got a taste that there's more to it right at the end with Holism's existence reveal. That's pretty major and there may be way more to it. All we know about the University really is ART and its humans. We could conceivably have non ART/Peri ship characters that are similar to it.

The big elephant in the room mentioned in this book is the ComfortUnit MB freed early in the series. What happened to it? And this book adds another SecUnit to that (2 technically but we only see one do something with its freedom). Will they come back into the story? And since they know how to free themselves will they spread that to other constructs? Will MB helping others on its journey have a knockdown effect throughout the Rim? That seems like the most likely solution to construct slavery, which is like the MAIN CONFLICT/problem of the series.

One thing MB has mentioned a few times is that some rogue Units do respond to sudden freedom with violence-- which is an understandable response, honestly. But that isn't something we have seen. MB just… kept doing its job for 4 years before the Preservation team discovered its secret in

the first book… and it's implied the one it freed in this book plans to do the same thing. Three wasn't violent either and is characterized as more… childlike, I guess? The ComfortUnit just fucking booked it the second it could. So we haven't seen violence happen with Three and the other Units MB directly freed but it's something that could be a conflict later on if suddenly a bunch start going rogue in that kind of ripple effect. There's the CombatUnit from book 4 that I vaguely recall had no interest in being freed and was incredibly violent. So who knows.

[textingaboutprometheus]

That's been my thought, re last anon's L holding on thought. I think L and R were a really good match in a lot of respects: intellectually, sense of humour, attraction (that Vegas instagram post lol). But the distance thing and maybe some other things we couldn't guess just rose to the level of L being like "all of those checkboxes and the love and the history aren't enough" and potentially, like, "the fact that you think it's enough and can see that it's not enough for me and that doesn't matter enough to make you choose differently is determinative to me" Like, I think they were very compatible and genuinely in love, but circumstances matter, and L got the therapy and the support he needed to say "that actually isn't enough for me and I can't do the rest of my life like this; I want a partner who wants to be with and around me most of the time."

I am firmly on board with Ls therapy. I'm so glad he decided to talk to someone. I'm glad they made him realize this wasn't working.

They both realized being in love wasn't enough. I really wish it had been. They were great together. What a power couple. But mental health and happiness are key.

[nikethestatue]

I was rereading acosf and in a scene Gwyn was singing and Nesta was becoming entranced, but then Merrill's warning "clanged through the beauty of Gwyn's voice." Is this some sort of foreshadowing for Merrill having some control over Gwyn (or her powers) or of somehow interrupting her powers in the future? This was right after Gwyn's skin seemed to glow and hair shone brighter after singing. Also, Gwyn also said the dusk services were her favourite, coincidence?

So, I personally, dont think that Merrill is evil or a negative character. I think her being mean and impatient is just a diversion. I think what's important about her are a couple of things: her research into the 26 worlds, her granddad or whatever, the windy god, and the fact that she is Clotho's 2nd.

I don't think that she is manipulating Gwyn, but she might be aware of what Gwyn's powers are. If Gwyn is a LS, it might be that she herself doesn't understand that yet, but perhaps Merrill does.

I would not be surprised that Merrill knows of Koschei, knows that he is a powerful Death God--though again, at this point, I don't know if Koschei is actually the Evil One, or maybe has some type of a dual role, like his brother the Bone Carver?

But if we operate under the assumption that he is evil, Merrill might be doing research on:

a. how to send him back before he makes trouble

b. where he came from and what his powers are? and what trouble could he make?

c. the rifts--could more being come into Prythian? Are they securily closed? Or what would be the way other beings could squeeze in?

We know of at least 2 examples of beings walking through the rifts and just kind of 'finding' them: Maeve and Amren. Did the 3 siblings/Death Gods also get in the same way? What happened with Dusk Court and that Rift?

If Gwyn is manipulated by anyone--which is still questionable--I think it might be by Koschei directly. Not through Merrill. I feel like down the road, if this is the case, Merrill might be helping her.

Curiously, Merrill means 'sea-bright'. Who is associated with water? Gwyn. Who turns bright and glowly? Gwyn. Is there a familial connection between the two? Merrill as Gwyn's mysterious mother? We know that Merrill has black hair (like Catrin), is very beautiful (Gwyn is described by Nesta is beautiful) and is a priestess. Could she have left her babies behind in Sangravah and went on to do her research? (I realise that this is a crack theory, but....)

[nooneexpectsthesithinquisition]

Hello! Figured I should make a list of blorbos so anyone has a chance of knowing what I'm talking about. In some particular order under the cut:

Jayne - DS Cyborg Bounty Hunter

Lot of firsts here: my first character, first through her class campaign, and the first and only I've started taking through the expansions so far. Got separated from her parents on Balmorra as a kid and figures they're probably dead. Likes to pick fights with Force users (hence the scar)

En'nead - DS Chiss Imperial Agent

Batman and James Bond's blue alien baby. Has a soft spot for droids. Romanced Kaliyo and took the Imperial ending. Middle child with family back in the Chiss Ascendacy he has a little brother named En'der

Meria Nura - LS Mirialan Jedi Consular

Daughter of one of my Knights and my Smuggler, she was supposed to have an arc about learning that being good isn't the same as following the rules but I never quite managed to play that out in the game so it's HC territory.

Thalia Clios - DS Ratatouille Rattataki Sith Inquisitor

You know that one line in one codex page on Korriban that says sometimes people sneak onto the planet disguised as slaves in an attempt to grab a bunch of artifacts Indiana Jones style and bounce? Well that's Thalia's backstory until someone realized she was Force sensitive and stuck her in with the other potential Siths. Probably hangs out as Darth Nox just long enough to figure out a way to dissapear into the frontier, being a Sith was a fun power trip but she doesn't plan on staying long term. Would've romanced Talos if he was an option.

Rhosse Nura - neutral Mirialan Jedi Knight

Lets all the power go to his head and ends up a grey Jedi. But also he hasn't left the starter planet yet. Meira's Dad, he does a lot better (and more good tbh) as Staine's smuggling partner who happens to be Force sensitive. Decent dad.

Staine Nura - LS Mirialan Smuggler

Aggressively nice in a "I'm going to kick that guy's ass for you but also you need to get good" kinda way. I think she's in chapter 2 right now? Meira's mom. Kinda looks like Ciri TheWitcher.

Triq Barnas - LS Nautilan Trooper

He's just a nice guy! Gives good hugs, wields big guns. I think he's on Coruscant right now. Hand to hand expert and Staine's buddy/ occasional Republic connection. Yes my whole light side crew is green.

Ashiok Vray - DS Togruta Sith Warrior

Used to be a trooper till she got grabbed by the Sith. Her family was Sith before they defected for a couple generations and she didn't know. Likes to mess (read:fight) with Sith and nobles but has a soft spot for the soldiers on the ground. Also Vette.

[shipwreckedshadows]

a while ago, while i was really into my SPOP phase, I developed a shangella story idea that i dubbed the Swap AU. in the AU, angella and shadow weaver swap places - angella performs the spell of obtainment instead of light spinner. I was going through my old work on the blog and decided that I don’t like the way I wrote it - particularly the relationship between angella and shadow weaver. it was toxic and borderline abusive, and while it was interesting to explore that type of relationship at the time that i wrote it, its not really the sort of thing i currently enjoy writing about. it also comes with the caveat that im not really writing the shangella that i wanted to write, and also light spinner eventually leaves angella at some point in the story.

so here is an outline of a potential re-write that ive been thinking about for a couple of weeks now. these are plot points, largely removed from character work. i want angella’s and light spinner’s relationship to be softer and healthier than i originally wrote in the first version of this story. as such, the spell of obtainment doesn’t turn angella into a meaner version of herself. she’s still caring and nurturing like she is in cannon, her priorities are just different.

Act One:

- also i tagged this post as swap AU, which also where all of the older posts are housed, [including this post on the basic set up for the AU]. not necessary to read but there if you want to

- angella has always put her emotions away and hated being vulnerable, so that becomes more predominant now that she’s transformed. the spell of obtainment works off of the main goal and motive the user has. angella’s main goal and motive was to have enough power to eradicate the horde and restore order to etheria. she’s motivated to do so as a good leader. so the spell feeds into and pushes her ideas of being a good leader to top spot priority and makes them stronger.

- magic has always been one of the most powerful resources (next to military weaponry, which is primarily used by the horde) so she enlists the help of mystacore’s military, which is where light spinner comes in.

- LS’s injury has left her unable to perform strong feats of magic so she has stepped down from her posiiton, leaving michah to take it. though she is largely on leave until she fully recovers, she still hangs around micah and casta. kinda like the way seniors sometimes hang around administrators - she has nothing to do except offer advice and research (read also: annoy the shit out of mystacore’s two most prominant leaders). this is how angella and LS meet and develop a bit of a relationship.

- they take down the horde and restore scorpia’s kingdom (scorpia’s parents are still alive, as at this point the horde hasn’t taken over the kingdom yet)

- as a result of using her magic take down so many horde soldiers, the spell of obtainment has weakened Angella’s connection to to brightstone and she starts having trouble drawing from its powers. at first she doesnt notice as the spell of obtainment draws power from the life power of others, which it was draining from the horde soldiers. after a few weeks of peace, she uses up the energy stored up, starts to feel weak, and realizes she can’t draw on the brightsone’s power anymore. she contacts mystacore for help.

- light spinner still holds her career at a priority and recognizes that she is largely a vestigial part of mystacore. she sees that the queen’s unique disorder of magic is an area she can be of use, without having to actually use her own magic. the queen already knows light spinner and agrees to have her stay in the castle. light spinner makes it super clear that this is a job, not a favour (everybody is in a bit of a recession right now bc of the rebellion/war, and money is a bit hard to come by, especially for LS who’s on leave. its a paid leave but she’s still not making as much as she used to and she also refuses to ask michah or casta for help). angella agrees but secretly considers this a favour to mystacore.

Act Two

- angella and LS bond the longer LS is in the kingdom. they spend a lot of time together as LS conducts observational research on angella’s abilities and magic properties. every other day they spend about an hour doing this. on the days they dont meet, LS is going through library materials to figure out whats going on with angella’s connection with the brightstone.

- she takes her breaks in the castle gardens and starts attending to them as a hobby in her down time

- eventually they figure out that they can make an artificial connection by chipping off a small piece of the brightstone and attaching to to angella via a pendant or sth (like the piece of the black garnet shadow weaver embedded in her mask). the risk ofc is that sacrificing the purity of the brightstone by severing a piece of it will lessen its power. angella wont do it for several reasons including: the brightstone is a symbol of her kingdom and she would hate to disgrace it for the sake of her power. also the spell of obtainment makes it so that she has trouble seeing the bigger picture - so she’s more fixated on the downsides of taking a piece of the brightstone.

- they maybe have a fight about this, idk it depends on what the character building demons say when/if i sit down to write this. if they do fight, it’ll be for the sake of character development and they’ll eventually make up.

- LS has a hard time finding methods other than physically draining the life out of others to keep angella’s magic together (and also to keep angella alive, since the spell of obtainment is parasitic in nature). she leaves to go back to mystacore because they have a more extensive library on dark magic. angella eventually loses her magic and then she starts feeling physically weaker. she sends a scroll to LS asking for updates.

- LS has somebody teleport her to brightmoon. at this point she cares about angella enough to want to do anything to help her. she tells angella to take some of her magic. angella, who isn’t very in control of her power right now, accidentally takes all of LS’s magic. unlike my original draft, LS doesn’t lose her memories. she just passes out for a few hours. when she wakes up, her magic is in a very weak state - just barely there.

Act Three

- though she has power again, angella feels extremely bad for what she’s done and does her best to make sure LS is comfortable while she takes a few days to recover from the resulting exhaustion. LS keeps reassure angella that she doesnt blame her and she’s just glad that angella is feeling better.

- the rest of the act is dedicated to resolving angella’s connection with the brightstone, and building LS’s magic back up (by developing her plant-based magic abilities). maybe i’ll do an arc where they find baby adora and raise her together, or find a way to write glimmer back into the story, idk

[queen-scribbles]

Alliance Commander Ask

tagged by @callavia​(thank you!), just gonna open tag if anyone wants to do it :)

1) Who’s your Alliance Commander? What class are they? Alignment? Random other facts you wanna share?

Tiiiiime for canon #2, aka my beautiful avocado girl Vica Nerai. Fully LS Consular Shadow(added Sage when she got a second class). Loves Theron, Crete the Manka cat, and hot chocolate.

2) What’s a reason or two you like that this character is your Commander?

She has the patience of a saint and is nearly impossible to rile, makes her an extremely good diplomat and calming presence for an Alliance full of former enemies. 

3) What’s a reason or two you don’t like about them being Commander?

She feels obligated to solve all the galaxy’s problems (even without being asked) and has trouble taking a break and letting other people Save the Day™ so she doesn’t burn out.

4) Why did this character of all your OCs become Commander?

Equal parts bc she romanced Theron so I had to take her through SoR etc and bc I think she makes a damn good Commander.

5) Who did they side with? Did they stay loyal or go saboteur? Or maybe you headcanon they defect properly?

Republic all the way, baby. 😎 She did keep the Alliance independent; she’s too happy with/proud of what she’s built, and she doesn’t like how (relatively) easy it was for the Republic to fall under the sway of a de facto dictator(Saresh). Just bc Rans seems friendly and down to earth and all that doesn’t mean that danger is gone.

6) Are there any NPC’s from the class stories you’d like to see/HC join the Alliance? Ex: Master Timmns, Ardun Kothe, Watcher One, etc.

Aside from the ones I mentioned for Tel, Attros Finn, Chance, Crysta’s daughter(CANNOT remember her name to save my life rn), Beryl Thorne, Agent Galen, a couple of the Masters from Consular Act 1(maybe Tykan and Sidonie?), Master O’a.

7) How’s your OC feeling about the current Malgus situation?

She’s genuinely hoping it’s done, he’s beaten and not going to be a problem anymore. But they thought that after he was defeated(and supposedly killed) over Ilum*, and she’s all too familiar with the penchant powerful Sith have for coming back. There’s a small part of her, a part of her that’s very tired but still too Jedi to kill a “defenseless” prisoner that hopes if he tries anything again in the future he fights to the death. 

*she did not handle the Ilum arc, so she heard Malgus was dead but wasn’t present to see it

8) Are any of your other OC’s part of the Alliance? If yes, what do they do for the Alliance? Do they get along with your Commander?

Yep. Her canon also has Briyoni(Trooper, the one to handle Ilum), who is her younger sister, for sure and tentatively: Eliyis(Inquisitor), Khii Mera(Smuggler), Deira,(also smuggler) and Qhora(Knight)  

9) How does your OC feel about Odessen? 

She loves it. With the strength of her connection to the Force, she’s very in tune with the balanced state of the planet and it gives her a sense of peace aside from that one valley that was the stuff of nightmares. She also thinks it’s a beautiful place, very scenic, and enjoys being tucked away from the rest of the galaxy.

10) How does your Commander feel about being the Commander?

It’s exhausting but she thrives on being able to help, to do things to make the galaxy better, so she loves it. Even if she is constantly tired and it has brought almost as much strife as joy. She’s a workaholic who doesn’t realize she’s a workaholic half the time bc she’s wrapped in the guise of people need me. 

11) Favorite place in the Alliance base?

Her quarters, snuggled up on the couch with a hot drink, her Spy Husband, and a datapad she’ll more than likely fall asleep reading.

12) Favorite mission in KotFE?

I’m always going to love Disavowed more than anything, but Vica, as would be expected, loves ch 9 bc not only does she get reunited with Theron and officially start a relationship with him, it’s more heavily centered on the talking/personality/diplomacy things that are right up her wheelhouse. She can fight, she’s a badass(Kinetic Combat FTW), but she is a diplomat at heart, so stuff like interpersonal relationships is where she’s happiest.

13) Favorite mission in KotET?

Ch 4/5 bc it’s exploring a whole new world(even if that world is trying to kill her and all her friends, it’s still fascinating), with technology and such that they’ve never seen before.

14) Least favorite mission in either? Why?

Toss up between ch 12 and 15 in KotFE for her and ch 7 in KotET. She really hates Valkorion’s little “You’re not listening to me :(” getaway, but that Eternal Fleet ship was just awful (aside from getting to see Tai again, that’s was pretty neat). And again, with how strong she’s tied to the Force, Nathema was oppressive for her. It felt like a combination of being on the verge of throwing up and that dullness to your senses of recovering from a flashbang.

15) Is your Commander successful because they’re skilled? Or are they perhaps just really lucky?

In her case, honestly, I say as a biased parent talking about a favorite child, I’m pretty sure it’s all skill.

16) From our OC’s point of view, SoR -> KotET wasn’t a fun experience, did they develop any fears as a result?

People thinking she doesn’t have the galaxy’s best interests at heart. She spends years bending over backwards to help everyone she can however she can, so the whole thing in the Fractured Alliances arc with there being people who actually think she doesn’t care is awful and makes her worry there are others who feel the same way, that can’t have been all of them on Nathema.

17) AU time! If your Commander wasn’t Commander, which of your other OCs would have likely taken their place?

Assuming all the tentative characters stay in her canon, probably Qhora. Maybe Eliyis. I have some headcanon things for Bry where I need her to not be the Outlander for them to work.

18) Who’s someone your Commander hopes they never have to deal with again?

Aside from Valkorion? Kaliyo, Novo, Terrak Morhage, SCORPIO, Saresh, Atrius (the joys of being 100% LS; she didn’t kill anyone she was given the option to, no matter how awful they are, so she has a longer list of “never wanna deal with them again” than some)

19) Does your Commander hold on to/still use any titles they earned before KotET?

Oh, she still holds onto Barsen’thor. That one’s very tied to her identity as a Jedi and a defender of the good in the galaxy. She views it differently now; as an achievement and honor rather than a duty, but it’s still important.

20) Share something, anything at all, you want about your Commander that you’ve not really gotten the chance to share before but really want to.

She out of all my Theronmancers panicked the most at the end of Nathema Conspiracy bc she’s the only one with Z E R O healing abilities. Jaaide’s an Operative, Sha’reii’s a Sorc, Khii’s a Scoundrel. Vica’s a Shadow, she’s a tank, a defender, not a healer. (Or, well, wasn’t. Why do you think she wanted Sage for her second combat style?) So she, who has buried her identity and worth in her ability to help, was helpless in the face of losing the man she loved, and it was not fun.

She plays the vioflute and would say she’s a tad rusty right now, but she’s still good.